Search - Johannes Ockeghem, Jacob Obrecht, Antoine Busnois :: Ockeghem: Missa Mi-Mi

Johannes Ockeghem, Jacob Obrecht, Antoine Busnois
Ockeghem: Missa Mi-Mi
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (11) - Disc #1
1. Salve Regina
2. Missa Mi-Mi: Kyrie
3. Missa Mi-Mi: Gloria
4. Missa Mi-Mi: Credo
5. Missa Mi-Mi: Sanctus
6. Missa Mi-Mi: Benedictus
7. Missa Mi-Mi: Agnus Dei
8. Quod Chorus Vatum/Haec Deum Caeli
9. Victimae Paschali Laudes
10. Angeli, Archangeli
11. Alma Redemptoris Mater

CD Details

All Artists: Johannes Ockeghem, Jacob Obrecht, Antoine Busnois, Heinrich Isaac, Edward Wickham, Clerks' Group
Title: Ockeghem: Missa Mi-Mi
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Gaudeamus
Release Date: 9/20/1994
Genre: Classical
Styles: Opera & Classical Vocal, Historical Periods, Early Music
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 743625013924

Synopsis

Amazon.com

The Clerks' Group didn't make it easy for themselves when they began their Ockeghem survey on ASV with the notoriously elusive Missa Mi-mi. With its somber modal sound and low vocal range, the Mass is very appealing in its way, but there's no plainchant melody or other structural device to help performers get a handle on the work--it's easy for the singers to lose focus and drift into a melancholy haze. Wickham and his singers avoid that pitfall nicely: singing with full-bodied tone, they keep the momentum of Ockeghem's seemingly wayward lines clear and bring out some lively rhythmic detail not usually associated with this composer. Alongside the Mass, they've included five motets: two by Ockeghem and three by his compatriots Busnois, Isaac, and Obrecht. All are beautiful--and beautifully done--but the standout is Isaac's "Angeli, archangeli," its bright scoring, animated rhythms, and soaring treble parts making a delightful contrast to the Mass. (For a remarkable, if unusual, rendition of the Missa Mi- mi, try the Cappella Pratensis.) --Matthew Westphal

CD Reviews

Worth getting just to hear the Isaac motet

Sator | Sydney, Australia | 08/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I must confess that this is one of my favorite recordings in the Clerks' Group's Ockeghem series - in fact, not so much for the Ockeghem Missa Mi-Mi but for the stunningly beautiful motet Angeli Archangeli which totally manages to steal the show. I must confess to having something of a bias to Isaac but you really have to sit up and take notice when a couple of reviewers have independently said much the same thing.

Brian Robins in Goldberg early music magazine wrote:

"The hidden treasure here is provided not by Ockeghem but by Heinrich Isaac, whose dazzling six-part motet for the feast of All Saints, Angeli, archangeli, is one of those Renaissance jewels that cannot help but send the spirits soaring, particularly when given such a vibrantly pulsating performance as that of The Clerks' Group."

Fabrice Fitch in Gramophone magazine also wrote:

"Listen to the hint of bells (at around 5'00'') in Isaac's Angeli, Archangeli: this is an astonishing piece that you won't find recorded elsewhere. Why mince words? This is superb."

The motet by the younger contemporary of Ockeghem was predictably highly popular in its day according to Rob Wegman who contributes the usual excellent liner notes. Incidentally Isaac is also mentioned as one of the great composers who gathered to honor him on his death.

As for the Missa Mi-Mi, it has never been my absolute favorite Ockeghem but it gets a solid performance here that makes a worthy 'filler' for the Isaac show stopper!

The Angeli Archangeli however definitely belongs on my desert island list."

No Sacred Muzak Here

eric trowbridge | New York | 02/09/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A very well done "Missa Mi-Mi" is complemented by beautiful shorter works. ("Alma Redemptoris Mater" is my personal favorite.) The music may be ethereal, but the Clerks' Group's compelling and intelligent performance keeps it from sounding like musical codeine."